Indirect Object Pronouns (lui, leur) — "to him / to her, to them"

What are indirect object pronouns (lui, leur)?

In French, indirect object pronouns replace an indirect object of the verb — usually a noun introduced by the preposition à (to). The two pronouns are:

- lui = to him / to her (singular, for both genders)
- leur = to them (plural, for any gender)

They are clitic (unstressed) pronouns: they normally sit next to the verb (not after a preposition). Use them to avoid repeating the person’s name:

- Je parle à Marie. → Je lui parle. (I speak to Marie. → I speak to her.)
- Je donne un cadeau à Paul. → Je lui donne un cadeau. (I give a present to Paul. → I give him a present.)
- J'écris à mes amis. → Je leur écris. (I write to my friends. → I write to them.)

When do I use lui and leur?

Use lui/leur when a verb has an indirect object introduced by à and that indirect object is a person (or group of people). Common verbs include verbs of communication, giving, asking, answering, showing, etc. Examples:

- parler à — Je parle à mon voisin. → Je lui parle. (I speak to my neighbor.)
- téléphoner à — Elle téléphone à sa mère. → Elle lui téléphone. (She calls her mother.)
- écrire à — Nous écrivons à notre professeur. → Nous lui écrivons. (We write to our teacher.)
- donner à / offrir à / envoyer à — Je donne le livre à Tom. → Je lui donne le livre. (I give Tom the book.)
- répondre à / demander à / dire à — Il répond à ses collègues. → Il leur répond. (He answers his colleagues.)

lui and leur replace people (or groups of people). They do not replace things. For replacing à + thing, use y instead.

- Je pense à mon travail. → J'y pense. (I think about my work. → I think about it.)
- Je réponds à la question. → J'y réponds. (I answer the question. → I answer it.)

If you try to use lui/leur for a thing, it will be wrong:

- Wrong: *Je lui pense. (incorrect)
- Correct: Je pense à lui. (I think of him.) — note this uses the stressed/disjunctive pronoun after à, not the clitic.)

Not every verb that takes à allows you to replace the complement with a clitic pronoun. Some verbs keep a prepositional phrase and use a stressed (tonic/disjunctive) pronoun after the preposition. Two common examples:

- penser à quelqu'un → Je pense à Marie. → Je pense à elle. (NOT *Je lui pense.)
- tenir à quelqu'un → Il tient à sa sœur. → Il tient à elle. (NOT *Il lui tient.)

A practical rule: for verbs of communication, giving, asking, answering, etc., you generally use lui/leur. For verbs that express feelings or are idiomatic with à, check whether the verb normally takes a clitic: if in doubt, prefer the full preposition + stressed pronoun (à + lui/à + elle/à + eux, etc.).

How are they formed and placed in a sentence?

In normal (non-imperative) sentences, indirect object pronouns come immediately before the conjugated verb or before the infinitive when there is one.

- Before a simple conjugated verb:
- Je lui parle. (I speak to him/her.)
- Nous leur expliquons la règle. (We explain the rule to them.)

- Before the infinitive (when a conjugated verb is followed by an infinitive):
- Je vais lui parler. (I am going to talk to him/her.)
- Il veut leur dire la vérité. (He wants to tell them the truth.)

- Before the auxiliary in compound tenses:
- Je lui ai parlé hier. (I spoke to him/her yesterday.)
- Ils leur ont envoyé un message. (They sent them a message.)

In negatives the pronoun stays before the verb (or before the infinitive):

- Je ne lui parle pas. (I am not speaking to him/her.)
- Je ne vais pas leur répondre. (I am not going to answer them.)
- Je ne leur ai pas écrit. (I did not write to them.)

In affirmative commands (imperative +), pronouns are placed after the verb and connected with hyphens. Also, me and te change to moi and toi in this position.

- Parle-lui ! (Speak to him/her!)
- Donne-leur la clé. (Give them the key.)
- Donne-le-moi. (Give it to me.) — direct object (le) then indirect (moi)

Order for pronouns in affirmative imperative: verb + le/la/les + moi/toi/lui/nous/vous/leur + y + en.

Examples with two pronouns:

- Donne-leur-le livre → Donne-le-leur ! (Give it to them!)
- Dis-la-lui → Dis-la-lui ! (Tell it to him/her!)

Note: In everyday speech native speakers often reorder or simplify long strings, but the grammatical form above is correct and useful to learn.

When you make a question by inversion, the indirect object pronoun stays before the verb (or before the auxiliary):

- Lui as-tu parlé ? (Did you speak to him/her?)
- Leur a-t-on dit la vérité ? (Were they told the truth?)

You can of course also use est-ce que: Est-ce que tu lui as parlé ? / Est-ce qu'on leur a dit ?

Combining pronouns: how to use lui and leur with other pronouns

When several clitic pronouns appear together (before the verb), they follow this order:

1. me / te / se / nous / vous
2. le / la / les
3. lui / leur
4. y
5. en

Examples:

- Il me l'a donné. (He gave it to me.) — me (1) + le (2)
- Je le lui ai donné. (I gave it to him/her.) — le (2) + lui (3)
- Nous leur en avons parlé. (We spoke to them about it.) — leur (3) + en (5)
- Elle me la montre. (She shows it to me.) — me (1) + la (2)

When a pronoun combines with an infinitive, it comes before the infinitive:

- Je vais le leur donner. (I am going to give it to them.)
- Tu peux lui en parler. (You can talk to him/her about it.)

Agreement with past participles — what to watch for

Only direct object pronouns that come before the auxiliary verb (avoir) cause the past participle to agree in gender and number. Indirect object pronouns (lui, leur) do not trigger agreement.

- Je lui ai parlé. (No agreement — lui is indirect.)
- Je les ai vus. (Agreement — les is a direct object placed before avoir.)
- Je le leur ai donné. (If le stands for a masculine noun, past participle agrees with le; if the direct object is feminine la, then: Je la leur ai donnée.)

Examples to compare:

- J'ai parlé à Marie. → Je lui ai parlé. (no change to past participle)
- J'ai vu Marie. → Je l'ai vue. (past participle agrees because the direct object l' comes before avoir)

Common mistakes to avoid

Mixing up direct and indirect object pronouns

- Wrong: *Je lui vois. → Correct: Je le vois. (I see him.)
Explanation: voir takes a direct object (no à); replace the person with le/la/les, not lui/leur.

- Wrong: *Je leur aime. → Correct: Je les aime. (I love them.)
Explanation: aimer takes a direct object.

Using lui/leur for things

- Wrong: *Je lui pense. → Correct: J'y pense. or Je pense à lui (if you mean a person).

Confusing the possessive leur vs. the pronoun leur

- Leur (possessive adjective): Leur maison est grande. (Their house is big.) — followed by a noun.
- Leur (indirect object pronoun): Je leur parle. (I speak to them.) — stands alone before the verb.

Forgetting the imperative position rules

- Wrong: *Parle lui ! → Correct: Parle-lui ! (Hyphen and pronoun after verb in affirmative imperative.)
- Negative: Ne lui parle pas ! (Pronoun before verb, as usual.)

Incorrect past participle agreement assumptions

- Wrong: *Je lui ai vus. → Correct: Je l'ai vu / Je lui ai parlé.
Explanation: Only preceding direct object pronouns cause agreement; lui/leur do not.

Quick reference and lots of examples

Simple declarations

- Je parle à Sophie. → Je lui parle. (I speak to Sophie. → I speak to her.)
- Tu écris à Paul ? → Tu lui écris ? (Are you writing to Paul? → Are you writing to him?)
- Nous enviaons aux étudiants. → Nous leur envoyons le programme. (We send them the program.)

Giving / showing / telling

- Je donne le livre à Anna. → Je lui donne le livre.
- Il montre la photo aux enfants. → Il leur montre la photo.
- Dis la vérité à ton frère. → Dis-la-lui. (Tell your brother the truth. → Tell it to him.)

With auxiliary / compound tenses

- J'ai parlé à mon professeur. → Je lui ai parlé.
- Ils ont envoyé les documents aux clients. → Ils leur ont envoyé les documents.

With infinitive / periphrasis

- Je vais lui écrire. (I am going to write to him/her.)
- Elle veut leur expliquer la raison. (She wants to explain the reason to them.)

With y and en

- Je leur en ai parlé. (I spoke to them about it.)
- Il va lui en offrir. (He is going to offer him/her some.)

Imperative

- Parle-lui maintenant ! (Speak to him/her now!)
- Donne-leur ton numéro. (Give them your number.)
- Donne-le-moi! / Ne me le donne pas ! (Give it to me! / Don't give it to me!)

Questions

- Lui as-tu dit la vérité ? (Did you tell him/her the truth?)
- Leur a-t-on envoyé l'invitation ? (Did we send them the invitation?)
- Est-ce que tu leur as parlé ? (Did you talk to them?)

Glossary (simple definitions)</b]

Indirect object — the person who receives the action indirectly, often introduced by à (to). Example: in Je donne le livre à Paul, Paul is the indirect object.

Direct object — the person or thing that directly receives the action of the verb (no preposition). Example: in Je vois Paul, Paul is the direct object.

Clitic pronoun — a short unstressed pronoun that attaches to the verb (lui, leur, le, la, me, te, etc.).

Disjunctive (stressed) pronoun — a pronoun used after a preposition or for emphasis (moi, toi, lui, elle, nous, vous, eux, elles). Used after à for emphasis: Je pense à lui. C'est pour elle.

y / en — other pronouns: y replaces à + thing (J'y pense), en replaces de + thing (J'en veux).

Final tips</b]

- Remember: lui = to him/to her (singular), leur = to them (plural). Gender does not change the form of lui.
- Use lui/leur to replace people after verbs that take an indirect object (à + person). For à + thing use y.
- Pronouns normally come before the verb; only in affirmative imperative do they come after and join with hyphens.
- Indirect object pronouns do not make the past participle agree.

If you keep these simple rules in mind and practice with short sentences, using lui and leur will become natural quickly. Good luck!